The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik (1957).

The Space Age began with the development of several technologies that converged with the October 4, 1957 launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union. This was the world's first artificial satellite, orbiting the Earth in 98.1 minutes and weighing 83 kg (183 lb). The launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in a new era of political, scientific and technological achievements that became known as the Space Age.[2]

The Space Age was characterized by rapid development of new technology in a close race mostly between the United States and the Soviet Union. Rapid advances were made in rocketry, materials science, computers and other areas. Much of the technology originally developed for space applications has been spun off and found additional uses, memory foam is an example of this.

The Space Age reached its peak with the Apollo program, that captured the imagination of much of the world's population. The landing of Apollo 11 was watched by over 500 million people around the world and is widely recognized as one of the defining moments of the 20th century. Since then, public attention has largely moved to other areas.[3]

In the United States, the Challenger disaster in 1986 marked a significant decline in manned shuttle launches. Following the disaster, NASA grounded all shuttles for safety concerns until 1988.[4] During the 1990s funding for space related programs fell sharply as the remaining structures of the now dissolved Soviet Union disintegrated and NASA no longer had any direct competition.

Since then participation in space launches has increasingly widened to more governments and commercial interests. Since the 1990s, space exploration and space-related technologies gained a perception by many people of being commonplace.

NASA permanently grounded all U.S. space shuttles in 2011. NASA has since relied on Russia to take American astronauts to and from the International Space Station.[5]

Although commonly referred to beginning on October 4, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union, the technology behind the space age and subsequent space race began back in the 1920s and 1930s. With the technological advancements, innovations, and inventions common in Nazis Germany related to war, their creation of a missile capable of striking London became their primary goal and would lay the groundwork for future space technologies and exploration. [6]

On March 1926 Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid fuel rocket which was considered as one of the earliest precursors in modern rocket technology and even by some as the beginning of the space age, although his rocket did not reach the Kármán line.[7]

Referred to as the most important rocket developer during the twentieth century, Dr. Wernher von Braun worked first for Germany, and later the United States. He first joined the German Society for Space Travel in 1928 and later joined the German army in 1932 to develop liquid-fuel rockets. He and his teams’ work on the V-2 rocket became the basis for both the United States’ and the Soviet Unions’ intercontinental ballistic missiles and later space programs. [8]

Also referred to as the A-4 rocket in Germany, the V-2 rocket was introduced by the German army nearing the end of the war. Fueled by burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and alcohol, the V-2 was capable of 3,500 miles per hour.[9] With an effective range of 200 miles with an approximate arch of 60 miles, the V-2 missile was capable of striking at Southern England from bases in the low land countries. Roughly 3,200 – 3,600 V-2 missiles were deployed against Allied targets during the course of the war, with about 25% of all missiles launched failing due to air bursts. [10]

Several countries now have space programs; from related technology ventures to full-fledged space programs with launch facilities.[12] There are many scientific and commercial satellites in use today, with thousands of satellites in orbit,[13] and several countries have plans to send humans into space.[14][15] Some of the countries joining this new race are France, India, China and Israel all of which have employed surveillance satellites. There are several other countries with space agencies although not as extensive to include the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Ukraine and Spain.[16]

As for the United States space program, NASA is currently constructing a deep-space crew capsule named the Orion. NASA’s goal with this new space capsule is to carry humans to Mars. The Orion spacecraft is due to be completed in the early 2020s. NASA is hoping that this mission will be a kick starter that will “usher in a new era of space exploration.”[17]

Another major factor that is affecting the current Space Age is the privatization of space flight. There are two major companies, Boeing and SpaceX, that are taking a large part in research and innovation. Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, has stated an ultimate goal of putting a colony of 1 million people on Mars and in 2018 they launched their largest rocket, bringing this goal closer to reality.[18]

Since the aforementioned V-2 rocket flight was undertaken in secrecy, it was not public knowledge for many years afterward. Further, the German launches, as well as the subsequent sounding rocket tests performed in both the United States and the Soviet Union during the late 1940s and early 1950s, were not considered significant enough to start a new age because they did not reach orbit. Having a rocket powerful enough to reach orbit meant that a nation had the ability to place a payload anywhere on the planet, or to use another term, possessed an intercontinental ballistic missile. The fact that after such a development nowhere on Earth was safe from a nuclear warhead is why the orbital standard is commonly used to define when the space age began.[33]